If you’re not familiar with what or how Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) works, it’s a business model where salespeople sell products directly to consumers and earn commissions by recruiting others to do the same.
One man lamented how this seemingly innocent business ruined a close friendship he shared with his buddy, who got sucked in too deep into the MLM venture.
From close friend to annoying salesperson
In an anonymous post, the OP wrote that he had known his friend since secondary school and would spend time at the mamak or talk about their shared interests.
Little did he know however, that all this would crumble after his friend joined a famous MLM company three years ago.
At the start, the OP said his friend would only post inspirational quotes on social media about “passive income,” “stepping out of your comfort zone,” and “achieving financial freedom before 30”.
“But over time, he’d pull out bottles and supplements out of his bag or have demonstrations where a few drops of liquid supposedly turned murky water into clear water.
“We’d start off talking about cars or video games, but somehow every conversation would always end up becoming a sales pitch about how amazing the products were.”
Product that broke OP’s back
Things came to a boiling point when the OP’s friend wouldn’t stop pestering him to buy a water filtration machine that he couldn’t afford.
I turned him down several times, but he refused to give up. Instead, he’d guilt trip me by saying things like, ‘Don’t you consider me your brother?’ or ‘As brothers, you can’t even help me out with this?’
“He also kept urging me to buy a package and invited me to attend those high-energy motivational recognition events,” he added.
Eventually, the OP decided he had enough and began to avoid his friend at every turn and opportunity, causing them to drift apart and barely speak to each other for two years.
‘I lost a friend’
In an ironic twist, the OP’s friend left the MLM scene and went to work a 9-to-5 job at an ordinary company. He had also deleted every social media post related to MLM.
This left a bittersweet taste in the OP’s mouth, who was left wondering how wonderful things could’ve been had his friend not joined the MLM company.
If I were to message him now and ask him out to meet at the mamak to talk like how we used to, would we still be able to go back to the way things were before?
“I don’t know whether MLM can really make one rich, but I do know it had caused me to lose a friend.”
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